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Painting the Navy

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Reference no. FT 1104

Celebrating 80 Years of the RNZN with Colin Wynn

In celebration of the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 80th Anniversary in 2021 the Collections Team curated 20 artworks from the Navy’s official artist Colin Wynn. They provided a snapshot into the Royal New Zealand Navy’s varied and dynamic 80 year history.

Colin Wynn became the Royal New Zealand Navy’s official artist in 1983. He was well known as one of New Zealand’s leading sea and landscape artists.

He uses artistic licence in his naval works but also pays considerable attention to detail. Colin works in a variety of media, mainly oil and acrylic but also gouache, water colour or pastel as required by the subject mood or location.

Similarly he works both in the studio and on location. To date, Colin has completed over 1500 works, of which over 100 are for his role as navy artist.

Leander-class frigate HMNZS Wellington Undergoing Refit
MV Rena on Astrolabe Reef
HMNZS Canterbury in Vanuatu
HMNZS Tutira and HMNZS Pukaki at Inchon Landings, Korea
The Navy Marae at Ngataringa
After being used as temporary barracks for the newly established Women's Royal New Zealand Naval Service (WRNZNS) in the Second World War, the Ventnor Hotel along King Edward Parade was purchased by the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1951. It was purchased as permanent accommodation for the WRNZNS and christened Elizabeth House after Princess Elizabeth. For the next twenty five years Elizabeth House would serve as the home away from home for many of the Wrens until the WRNZNS was disbanded and women were accommodated on base as they joined the RNZN directly. Framed oil and alkaloid painting, 1990
Commonly nicknamed the 'Ghost of the Coast' for her remapping of the New Zealand coastline, the hydrographic survey vessel, HMNZS Monowai (A06) is represented in this work during her famous rescue mission. The crew of Monowai were responsible for saving eight lives during the 1994 Auckland to Tonga Yacht Regatta, in what became New Zealand's largest marine rescue operation. When an unforeseen storm approached at speed, there was little the competing yachts could do to avoid the dangerous conditions. Monowai and her crew successfully rescued the crew of three yachts in treacherous and hazardous waters. Acrylic polymer on panel, 1994.
In 2015, the Anzac-class frigate HMNZS Te Kaha (F77) travelled 14,000 nautical miles to Turkey to mark the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings. She sailed across the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and through the Suez Canal in remembrance of the ANZAC soldiers and seamen who had served 100 years before. Te Kaha joined Australian, British, French and Turkish war ships that had gathered together for the event. Oil painting,
Framed painting, 2005. This work portrays a Seasprite helicopter (SH-2G) operating from an Anzac frigate. New Zealanders have been involved with naval flying since the formation of the Royal Naval Air Service in 1914 and later with the Fleet Air arm. The Royal New Zealand Navy began operating their own Wasp helicopters in the 1960s and transitioned to Seasprites in 2000. Since 2005, the RNZN's air element has been operated by No 6 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Seasprites are flown by Navy aircrew and maintained by RNZAF personnel. Framed painting, 2005.
In 1943 while patrolling off the coast of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, HMNZ ships Kiwi (T102) and Moa (T233) engaged and sunk the Japanese Submarine I-1. kiwi is in the foreground of this painting, while Moa is in the background. During the fierce battle, Leading Signalman Campbell Buchanan successfully kept Kiwi's searchlight on the enemy submarine for the gunners and continued to remain at his post even though he was mortally wounded. The battle lasted almost an hour and the I-1 was eventually sunk on a reef after Kiwi managed to ram it three times and Moa pursued the damaged submarine. Framed painting, 1999.
Since 1971, New Zealand has been a member of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), a defence agreement between Australia, United Kingdom, Malaysia and Singapore. As well as having strategic benefit, the arrangement also culminates in yearly joint exercises on land, sea and air. This painting shows the Anzac-class frigate HMNZS Te Kaha (F77) with a Seasprite taking part in a FPDA exercise in the South China Sea in 2004. Framed oil painting, 2006.
A rating sits with a lifebuoy on the deck of the inshore patrol vessel HMNZS Taupo (P3570). The bow of an unknown ship fills the background. Taupo was commissioned in 2009 and conducts maritime security patrols, surveillance, boarding operations and responds to search and rescue. Oil Painting, 2013.
The Royal New Zealand Navy has operated in Antarctica since 1956 when HMNZS Endeavour escorted the team that built the first Scott Base. The Royal New Zealand Navy continues to support operations in Antarctica as well as monitoring activity in the Southern Ocean. This painting shows the offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington (P55) with the Ross Ice Shelf in the background. The offshore patrol vessels have strengthened hulls and other cold climate capabilities that allow them to operate in polar waters. Framed oil painting, 2011. FT 1196
A regular task undertaken by ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy is the provision of support to scientific expeditions to the sub-Antarctic islands. The frigate HMNZS Taranaki (F148) is depicted unloading stores near Sandy Bay on Enderby Island, one of the Auckland Islands to the south east of Stewart Island. The islands are rich in sea-life, particularly seals and sea lions, and there are thick beds of kelp on the rocks. Acrylic on polymer, 1990.
The weather off the lower South island can vary widely and in winter, snow showers at sea are common. While the conditions can be trying, they make for outstanding seascapes such as when the frigate HMNZS Southland (F104) and the inshore patrol craft HMNZS Moa (P3553) exercised together off the Otago Peninsula at Taiaroa Head in 1989. Moa was the training vessel of the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve unit in Dunedin. Acrylic on board, 1990. FT 0912
HMNZS Hawea at the Snares
In November, 1965 the cruiser HMNZS Royalist (C89) was returning to New Zealand from deployment in the Far East. The ship had visited Manus Island and was in the Coral Sea enroute to Suva, Fiji, when her boilers became contaminated with sea water. For several days the ship drifted, before being taken in tow for the long slow passage to Auckland. During this time conditions on board were quite unpleasant and drinking water was in short supply. Spirits were raised on the morning of 6 November when a Royal New Zealand Air Force Sunderland aircraft dropped a parcel of mail to the ship. Oil on Board, 1991.
HMNZS Philomel is the main administrative naval base in Auckland. It was named after New Zealand's first war ship HMS Philomel which was part of New Zealand's naval forces during the First World War. The vessel later became a stationary training ship at Devonport's naval base. She was officially scrapped in 1946, and the name transferred to the shore establishment. In this work, Philomel is depicted in the 1940s. From this view the Naval Hospital and Officer's Mess can be seen on the hill and the Navy Chapel in the lower left corner. Oil Painting, 2002.
the Dido-class cruiser HMNZS Bellona (C63) underway in Milford Sound. She was loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy from 1946-1956 by the Royal Navy. Bellona became the flagship of the New Zealand Squadron and carried out port visits, sea training, exercises and foreign deployments.
HMNZS Resolution in Dusky Sound
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Past Exhibitions

Past Exhibitions